


The Eye of the Beholder

by Morpheus626



Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morpheus626/pseuds/Morpheus626
Summary: A request from @elliotslament on Tumblr: ""First second I saw you and I couldn’t get over how beautiful you were.” someone saying this to Elliot"
Kudos: 6





	The Eye of the Beholder

“Young man!” 

He kept on down the sidewalk, the rain pouring, clouds thundering above him. 

“I’m talking to you!” 

Elliot turned, and found an elderly woman, hunched over her walker, reaching out for him. 

“Can I help you?” 

She smiled, moving the rim of her large floppy hat off of her face, the rain that had accumulated there dripping off of it. “I think you can. Would you mind terribly, walking me to my hotel? I think my husband is already there; I lost him in the crowds…” 

That explained the random approach. She wasn’t from the city, so didn’t think anything of grabbing whoever she could for help. 

“If it isn’t far,” Elliot shrugged. “Do you know how far away it is?” 

It’s quite a tall building.” 

“…What about the name of it?” 

He regretted asking it as soon as it left his mouth; she was on the edge of tears and seemed to not remember. Wherever her husband was, he had done her dirty by not keeping an eye on her and keeping her close. 

“We’ll find it,” he continued, and tried not to flinch as she struggled to fold up her portable walker, and tried to grab his arm all while holding it. 

“Here, let me help.” He took the walker from her, and let her rest her hand on the crook of his other arm. 

It was slow going, and awkward, but as long as she didn’t fall over, Elliot decided it would be a victory for the day. After all, it wasn’t every day he helped any tourist out this much. 

“Do you know why I asked you to help me?” she asked cheerfully, even as lightning flashed in the sky. 

“No,” Elliot murmured. 

“Well, from the first second I saw you pass me, all I could think was what a beautiful young man you are. I couldn’t get over it! Reminded me of my husband,” she said. 

He let a smile, small and unsure, play on his lips for a moment. She reminded him of the grandmothers he’d seen in movies and on TV. In another minute, she might be offering him cookies or something. 

And he wasn’t entirely sure he’d turn her down. 

“I don’t know if anyone has ever called me beautiful.” 

“Well, they should! You can’t tell me some nice young person hasn’t snapped you up by now!” she giggled. 

“No. I’m-” he paused, and wondered why he wanted to be so open with her. But then, he’d never see her after this most likely. “I’m kind of a mess.” 

“Who isn’t?” she tutted. 

“I mean…I. It would take too long to explain everything,” Elliot replied, and thanked Mr. Robot for not appearing right then. That was the last person he wanted this woman to meet. “But I’ve done things…that I thought were going to help people. And sometimes they did, but the consequences after that…” 

He sighed. It really was too much to explain. 

“Did you do your best?” she chirped softly, and motioned him towards a cafe that had a bench near it. 

“I don’t know. I thought I was doing my best. But now I question myself, and I wonder if I really was ever doing my best, or doing things right. It feels like this loop; I keep trying to help people, and the people at the top are the only ones getting hurt ideally-” 

“Ideally,” she said sagely, and nodded as they sat on the bench. “But things don’t work out that way, do they?” 

He fought the urge to get up and leave. She wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t what he had figured he’d be talking about with a complete stranger, and the level of vulnerability was creeping past where he could be comfortable with it. 

“Don’t be afraid of the future,” she continued. “It’ll be worse and better than you think.” 

“What does that mean, exactly?” he said before he could stop himself. 

“Well, you’ll just have to stick around and find out, won’t you? At least, until it’s time for you to go. We all have to let go and head out, eventually.” 

He frowned, and watched as she waved across the street to a panicked-looking man. 

“Mom! Jesus, you can’t just run off like that,” the man gasped, after he sprinted to them at a gap in the traffic. “I’m sorry, if she’s been any trouble. We’re visiting family here, and I said maybe it would be a bad idea if she came with and-” 

“She’s fine,” Elliot interrupted. “She kept me company.” 

He nodded to her. “Thank you.” 

She opened her mouth, he figured to tell her son the truth, but then closed it. “Thank you, young man. You remember what I said, alright? And take care of yourself. You make me think of my granddaughter, when she was so sick…” 

“Theresa is an addict, Mom, she isn’t sick,” the man scoffed. “Sorry, again. Thanks for your trouble.” 

Elliot handed over her walker, and watched as the man nearly dragged her down the street. 

He wondered how hard it would be to hack him. To try and find a way to show him to appreciate his mother more. There had to be some way. 

He didn’t know how else he might repay her, even though she might not remember him (since he still didn’t know if there was really a husband, a hotel, or if she had been remembering something from a different time, a different trip.) 

But he could remember her, and her kindness, if nothing else. 


End file.
